GUWAHATI, April 19 - In the post-lockdown Assam, a large number of children hailing from financially weaker families are likely to drop out of school, according to Ratul Chandra Goswami, general secretary of the Assam State Primary Teachers� Association.
At present, over 40 lakh children are pursuing their lower primary education in different government school across the State and most of them come from the poor section of society, Goswami said today, adding the number of school dropouts in Assam is currently around 87,000.
�Students whose parents are daily wage labourers will particularly face immense hardship in the post-lockdown period. So, these children are in a very vulnerable situation and are likely to be deprived of further education if the State government does not take proper steps at the right time,� Goswami said.
He said that there is a need to extend mental support to these families so that they do not lose confidence. In an attempt to motivate these families, the Association has started a drive to reach out to each and every parent over telephone.
Meanwhile, commenting on the direction of the State government to continue online classes through WhatsApp, etc., the Association yesterday that it is not possible to implement the same in Assam. In Assam, parents of around 80 per cent students do not have WhatsApp in their phones. Moreover, most primary school students are not tech-savvy enough to participate in online classes, it said.
In a damage-control move, the Association has suggested to the government to cancel the summer vacation for this year and not use primary schools as the relief camps during the flood season. It has also urged the government not to engage primary school teachers in various non-academic activities, including census, NRC, elections, etc, and withdraw some unnecessary holidays from the academic calendar of Assam.
